This wrong-headed adaptation of the very funny (and scatological) novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle was written and directed by Alan Parker, who doesn't seem to have much of a clue. It's not a botch, just a movie that hammers its efforts at humor too hard. The focus is split between three story lines: the life of cereal tycoon John Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins with buck teeth), who has created a health spa for the wealthy that focuses on regular cleansing of the digestive tract (as well as applications of electricity); the troubles of an unhappy young couple (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda), who come to the spa hoping to cure their marital ills (Broderick gets the worst of the deal); and the efforts of a young hustler (John Cusack), who is trying to break into the breakfast-cereal business but gets taken by an even bigger hustler (Michael Lerner). There are subplots about Kellogg's children but they add little. For all the doo-doo and enema jokes, the joys of this movie are distinctly scattered. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

If you never laugh this movie will make you laugh, laugh, laugh!I am a health nut and am familiar with Dr. Kellogg. He is a great man with some faults just like any of us do. I like the way this movie makes fun of us health nuts. It is put together really well! Just wonder who really put this out there for us to view. Maybe the AMA?! ...more info

Very off beat film with many famous actorsThis film is very "different" and I feel safe in saying the average viewer has not seen anything like it before. Anthony Hopkins is good as always, outfitted with some fake buck teeth, playing the very eccentric Dr. John H. Kellogg. The movie as the book it is taken from is a very fictionalized version of the real life Dr. Kellogg and his vegetarian "sanitarium" at Battle Creek, Michigan. You may wonder why a movie about a vegetarian health spa in Michigan in the late 1800's needs to be rated R. Trust me there is more than enough nudity and frank sexual and scatological talk to justify the rating. Many famous and familiar performers have parts in this movie including Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, Camryn Manheim, Dana Carvey, and John Cusack. The costumes and sets are lovely but the movie doesn't seem to know where it is going and is not a must see unless you are a true fan of one or more of the actors. ...more info

Kooky VictoriansThis is a genuinely odd picture, with a number of peculiar characters, all involved, in one way or another in the natural health movement at the turn of the 20th Century. I thought that Anthony Hopkins was wonderful as Dr. John Kellogg - what a fabulous accent and set of false teeth - I've never laughed at anything Hopkins did before, but this definitely made me laugh.

I haven't read the book on which this picture is based, so I don't have anything to compare it to. However, I don't mind nudity and I don't mind people talking about their bowels or their diets, so I don't have the complaints of some of the other posters here. In fact, I can't really think of any other film that has this one's theme of health-fads and their many oddball incarnations. Really, truly oddball. Seeing Colm Meany (Chief O'Brien from Star Trek) doing god-knows-what to himself while watching some German doctor do god-knows-what to Briget Fonda and Camryn Mannheim was sort of a shocker, though. Luckily, they were behind some bushes. Made me wonder what Keiko would think. But I'm mixing my pictures, here.

If you're a grown-up and you can handle the enemas and the sex and the wacky "health" machines then this will be a good gamble for you. I've never seen anything quite like it. Eat your roughage, and remember to "chew, chew, chew! That is the thing to do!"...more info

A regular commedyThis movie is a commedy.Even using a good cast, this movie misses the target, many times.Using a real caracter - Dr. John H. Kellogg- as a source to a fiction, this movie is a regular commedy, but fat from amomg the best commedies available, to see.This movie was made, following a book with the same name.I didn't read the book, but this movie is just regular....more info

BEWARE - FULL SCREEN - Rating the FORMAT not the MOVIEAny of the reviews here from people who rated the MOVIE as 5 STARS I COMPLETELY agree with... HOWEVER, I bought and RETURNED this dvd because it was FULL SCREEN. There is NO WAY that this format or version, or whatever you want to call it can be justified in this day and age. WIDESCREEN or LETTERBOX are the ONLY WAY TO GO. And for those who like full screen (why?????) great, but Amazon should at least offer the WIDESCREEN for those of us who ONLY ENJOY THAT FORMAT.

I hear other "vendors" offer the widescreen version, which I will now purchase, but I would like to have been able to do this through Amazon.

THE MOVIE ITSELF IS INCREDIBLY AND BRILLIANTLY FUNNY AND WELL DONE!...more info

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHARemember that song in the film? Very catchy. I love this film. It's well cast, filmed and acted. But I'm giving this dvd only 1 star for these reasons: #1 - it is NOT presented in widescreen (it was filmed in 1.85:1). #2 - the HORRIBLE dvd box art, which looks like a bootleg edition you'd snag off the streets with the cheap looking design and ugly title font. #3 - ZERO EXTRAS and for THAT price?!?!. It's an outrage. This is a horrible edition. Lucky for me I have the laserdisc which IS in widescreen....more info

DVDGood DVD although it did stick toward the end of the movie. Not a real problem....more info

A One Ounce Serving Has Over a Hundred LaughsThis adult comedy centers around three sub plots: the buck-toothed Dr. Kellogg played by Anthony Hopkins, Will and Eleanor Lightbody played by Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda respectively, and John Cusack as a shady but naive entrepreneur. The plots all take place during the turn of the last century at Dr. Kellogg's health sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.

My favorites in this movie were the good doctor who is a product of his time believing that only procreational sex is good, and any loss of bodily fluids by other means saps the body of strength. I was in lust at first sight with the character of Ms. Munse. She is one of the reasons this comedy is for adults only; The facial expressions of the young and grown-up character of George Kellogg Jr. and pigs refusing to eat the experimental cereal "Perfo" kept me laughing constantly. I also enjoyed the music score which ranged from classical to delightfully silly. (I keep replaying the "Laughing Song" in my head.)

Amazon's product review is less kind than mine, proving that you really have to decide for yourself. But for me, this movie is a keeper. It can be played throughout the year, or just savored during the holidays.

Victorian style oddity.A bizarre and slightly kinky voyage into the depths of victorian style oddity. This film manages to blend elements of Oliver Twist into a bizarre concoction of breakfast cereal, medical quackery and electro fetishism. Quite enjoyable really if you have an open mind....more info

WaaHoo!Well, here it is, one of the most delightful and whacky movies you'll ever see. A great ensemble cast, and a really funny look at Kellogg, who brought us the corn flake, and the problem of his "son", along with all the delightfully hilarious goings-on in Wellville. You'll laugh yourself to tears. The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is that it is pan and scan instead of letterboxed--what a shame when they go to the expense to master these things they opt for pan and scan and, thus, rob of us of 1/3 the image of the original movie. (Oops! Somehow I DID give this 5 stars, when I intended to give it 4; and I am unable to edit the star rating section, so I guess it has to stand as "5"--however, my rating is really a 4.)...more info

The wayward son provides 50% of the laughs, while
Dr Spitzvogel and "Der Handebunge technique"
provides another 30% [is this really possible on post-natal women???
or even Pre-Natal without anastheic (???)]
If you are seeing it for the 1st time you will
be rolling on the ground in laughter at some scenes.
That is assuming you are a person who finds 'Faulty Towers'
funny!!
Surprisingly there are people out there who do not find Faulty
Towers or the Monty Python movies funny in the slightest (???).
I know,
I've heard them admitting it on the radio.
Obviously people of German stock.
Or those who have gone completely out to get some meat.
When everybody knows
'VE HAVE MEAT HERE IN ZE BUILDING (!!!!!)'.
...more info

How's your health?Once again Anthony Hopkins takes his character over the top and into a hilarious trip into Battle Creek Michigan as the infamous Dr. John Kellog. Who cares if the story doesn't stick to the novel's, its simply non-stop comical sequences, peppering the eyes. You'll either shriek in delight or be appalled or embarrassed by the goings on. It's the health spa we would've all saved up for and visited if we were around at the time, even if the trip were made to just watch instead of take part. Not for the immature....more info

At the San ...The Road the Wellville is wonderful evocation of life (and death) at the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium circa 1900. It's also a very funny satire of bizarre health fads, both those that were current at the turn of the last century and their many modern equivalents.

The movie features excellent performances from a talented ensemble cast - I particularly enjoyed Anthony Hopkin's rendition of the eccentric, self righteous Dr. John Kellogg, and Matthew Broderick's terminally bewildered Will Lightbody. Lightbody's many encounters with the San's crackpot medical devices are great fun and reveal Broderick's talent as a physical comedian.

The production design is outstanding and the director has a real sympathy for the quirky elegance of this period of American history. The luxurious lakeside San complex, with it's many gymasia, lecture halls, dining rooms and boudoirs, is almost a character in itself.

Highly recommended, especially for broad-minded viewers with an taste for period comedy....more info

With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemas?Based on the novel by T.C. Boyle, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE is a delightful lark of a film that wickedly spoofs the health fads of the early 1900s--and in particular those set forth by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, co-inventor of the famous Kellogg cornflake and proponet of numerous "healthful" ideas that seem calculated to make moderns squirm.

The film presents a triple story line. William and Eleanor Lightbody (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda) are a young married couple in trouble: Eleanor has accidentally poisoned William and hopes a trip to Dr. Kellogg's sanitorium can set him right. Charles Ossining (John Cusack) has come to Battle Creek in the hope of striking it rich by creating a breakfast ceral to cash in on America's fitness craze--only to find himself involved with various thieves and scoundrels. These include George Kellogg (Dana Carvey), who seems to live to make the life of his adoptive father Dr. Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins) unmitigated hell.

The various stories are extremely entertaining as they intertwine--but most of the laughs come at Dr. Kellogg's expense as he advocates yogurt enemas, electric baths, and other bizarre treatments that seem to arise primarily from his idea that sex "is the sewer drain of a healthy body." Patients are humiliated, harrassed, and haranged about their sex lives even as they remain largely ignorant of their own sexual natures, which was typical of many Americans in this era. Much of it is crude, bad taste, bathroom humor--but it is expertly, hilariously handled. Any one who can sit through THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE without hooting out loud doesn't simply lack a sense of humor: they're probably dead.

The performances are sharp, clever, and make the most of the various outlandish situations into the characters are forced. Broderick carries the film with tremendous charm and Fonda follows suit, but the real acting awards go to Anthony Hopkins, Dana Carvey, and a supporting cast that includes outrageously funny performances by the likes of Camryn Manheim, Traci Lind, Colm Meaney, and John Neville. The DVD has nothing in the way of bonus features and is, alas, only available in pan-and-scan, but don't let that stop you. Laugh your way to health the Kellogg way!

Give us a cuddle Daddy?This movie is genius. Anyone who says otherwise just doesn't get it....more info

A Little DisappointedDon't get me wrong, I'm not going to rag on this motion picture. In fact, I liked it. The problem I have is with the extras.

Presiding over the renowned Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1907 is the visionary corn flake (under line the word flake) inventor and health craze huckster Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. This man had the same treatment for all ailments. Enemas! Got a headache? You need an enema. Ingrown toenail? Need an enema. Toothache? Yes, an enema.

I first discovered this movie on Showtime. I enjoyed it thoroughly! Good acting, good story. Everything you want in a movie. You even get to see Traci Lind (Nurse Irene Graves) naked.

What I miss on this DVD is the Making Of Road To Wellville. When this movie was shown on Showtime, there was a documentary. Clearly the documentary was made at the same time the movie was being filmed. It ran about 20 minutes and was fascinating! I bought the DVD hoping that the documentary was on there. But it wasn't. Why?

Its clear to me that no thought was put into this DVD. Someone got lazy and did the least they could do. It could have been so much better......more info

Adventures in enemas.This is not a review based on the DVD as I own the VHS. I will more then likely order the DVD in the near future.

The movie is based on the happenings of the Battle Creek sanitarium - a sort of 'health spa' for the elite. Kellogg - a devout Seventh-Day Adventist - believed that the key to health was a vegitarian diet, fresh air, exercise, enemas, and abstinence (unless one is trying to procreate).

While this film had a bit of flare added, it does a good job of demonstrating the activities that took place at the sanitarium. All of the 'treatments' shown in the movie were performed at the sanitarium as they were also performed by many doctors during the Victorian era... not exactly a time known for its medical ingenuity.

Very entertaining and hilarious. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes slightly off the wall comedy or simply laughing at crazy healthnut Victorians.

If you enjoy this film, you may want to check out the movie The Cat's Meow which is about the murder that happened in 1924 aboard William Randolf Hearst's private yaht....more info

Review 600!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Road to Wellville is a movie that's kinda slipped through the cracks. It didn't play long at the theater(I actually took a date to this movie!), and the reviews weren't favorable. Not alot of people know about this film, but those who do are split into two camps: Those who wish they hadn't heard of it and those who think it's hilarious. I think the biggest problem with this movie is that it didn't attract any audience of any kind. I mean, what crowd was this film directed towards? A lot of the humor is very below the belt stuff consisting of endless enema/fart/poop, and sex humor. Basically the kind of humor you would expect from an American Pie or Larry the Cable Guy kind of movie. Needless to say this is a crowd that wouldn't get within ten feet of a film that was a period piece set at the turn of the century. More high falootin filmgoers who like costume dramas and films set at the turn of the century probably wouldn't be too hot on the toilet humor. So, who was it aimed at? Apparently the small population of folks who like films set in the 19th century and get a chuckle out of massive amounts of yogurt being administered anally. The plot is simple, consisting of a married couple going to John Kellog's wacky health spa and being subjected to his insane philosophies and bowel obsessions, and ridiculous and pointless contraptions and "cures"(one of my favorites consists of a vertical wooden pole, fixed with either rubber or leather straps, that rotates around and seemingly has no other purpose than to slap you silly. Broderick is pretty funny as he walks around the pole covering his face as he's slapped by the contraption). Meanwhile, John Cusack is trying to get a cereal company up and running with a con man(Michael Lerner is great) and Kellog's son. It turns into a case of Murphy's law. Sex at the sanitarium is taboo and it's only a matter of time until a few folks succumb to their urges. The arrival of Colm Meany as a nudist/vegeterian/free love advocate doesn't help. To be honest, I'm not sure what the point actually is to this movie, but I find it very funny. It's bizarre to see this many high profile actors engaging in such goofiness, especially Hopkins. The film was directed by Alan Parker who's career has included many films very different from one another. He did the excellent Midnight Express, the musicals Pink Floyd The Wall and Evita, Mississippi Burning, and the supernatural thriller Angel Heart(you know, the one where Robert Deniro plays the devil and Mickey Rourke has sex with Lisa Bonet with all the chicken blood dripping on them) to name a few. Parker also wrote the script. I've read the book and I must say that Parker really adapted from this pretty freely. I don't know what his reasons were for so many changes and additions(the book is considerably less sexual), but I guess he had his reasons. So, if there is indeed such a thing as intelligent or classy toilet humor, I guess this is the example. I would certainly recommend it if you're looking for something a bit different, or just to see A-list actors doing stuff you probably won't ever see them doing again....more info

Extremely Funny, if you with a Sense of Humour!I've never seen so many intellectual type reviews from people who were so obviously born without a sense of humour. For heavens sake, whether it follows the book, or not, this is a hillarious movie by most standards. Unfortunately, some people choose to take these things too seriously, and base their judgements upon things which don't concern the average person: who seeks entertainment and a laugh. This is a comedy - not a boring drama! - and once you accept the fact, it's a great film!...more info

The Road to IIls-ville... because that's what this movie made me. It deserves negative stars. Did any of the principles actually read the script before they signed on to do this project? You know you're in for a laugh riot when one of the first scenes is Anthony Hopkins expounding on the "bowels", which actually could be funny except that it most certainly wasn't. Nor was seeing Dana Carvey throw feces on people, or Bridget Fonda getting a "womb manipulation", or the many,many sufferings of Matthew Broderick that he endured for not a day, not a week, but unbelieveably for months, and ... oh well, I guess you get the idea by now. I'm a big fan of all the individual players in this movie, so it's dissapointing to see them in such a mess....more info

Offbeat and very funny!I had to watch this twice before I really appreciated the fabulous humor lying in wait in this video, it practically jumps out at you but you have to be ready to appreciate it! To see Anthony Hopkins in such an uncharateristic role is also a treat! Just illustrates the great scope of his talents! Amazing! If folks followed some of the health advice in this movie, there would be lots less coronary failure! If you liked The Gods Must Be Crazy and movies like that, you will LOVE this movie. It gets funnier with every viewing!...more info

I have thought for years that the novel upon which The Road to Wellville was based was written by the loathsome Garrison Keillor. Well, my copy showed up in the mail the other day, and I found out the novel was written by the far more easily-digested T. Coraghessan Boyle, so I decided I wouldn't exile the wife to the living room to watch this alone as I had planned.

What a horrible mistake.

The Road to Wellville chronicles, supposedly, the doings of a number of folks in the late nineteenth-century, all presided over by cornflake inventor John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). The story centers, if there can be said to be a center, around the Lightbodies, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda) and Will (Matthew Broderick), who come to Kellogg's sanitarium in order to recover from an unspecified disease of Will's (his wife confides in someone later what it is, and it's something of a major plot point). Also weaving through the tale is that of Charles Ossining (John Cusack), who gets involved with Kellogg's outcast adopted son George (Dana Carvey) and a crook named Bender (Michael Lerner, the "lost another loan to Ditech!" guy). And we haven't even begun to cover the principal actors yet, much less the cameos.

You may already be able to see where I'm going with this. If so, feel free to skip to the end of the review.

I've always considered Alan Parker an inconsistent director, but while mulling this travesty of a film over, I realized why. The movies he made early in his career that worked so very well (Midnight Express, Fame, The Wall, etc.) are movies where a lot of stuff is going on, and the viewer is being bombarded by stuff from every direction at all times. That's how the movies are written, and they succeed very well.

The movies he's made since then have had scripts that are more focused (or, in the case of The Road to Wellville, were in desperate need of more focus), but Parker is still using the same technique. And we're still getting bombarded when we require focus. Simply put, there's too much going on in any two hours of Alan Parker celluloid, and whether or not it works has to do with the material rather than the director or the actors. After all, Parker has a history of getting fantastic actors to work on his films (perhaps another thing; in every movie Parker made until Birdy, he was working with a cast of unknowns. Starting with Mississippi Burning, he started getting the A-list) and do things that could very well destroy their careers. I'm amazed that, after this mess, Hopkins, Broderick, Cusack, and a number of others survived with their careers intact.

Yes, this is a mess. Provides a few good one-liners here and there, but is basically the grown-up version of the unfunny teen sex comedy (and I can never say that without saying "American Pie and its sequels are not funny, and if you think they are, you're wrong"). Will probably be enjoyed by those who thought Scary Movie was a laff riot. Everyone else can safely stay away without feeling like they've missed anything. **...more info

Forget The Movie CriticsThis movie is hilarious, wonderful. Although it's pretty much adult entertainment it is one of those movies that's a must have during the holidays. RTW can be viewed repeatedly without boredom, it is just thet hilarious, my favorite is Dana Carvey playing the village idiot son of Kellogg......too many LOLOLOLS to type them all here. It's 20 bucks well spent if you want some good old earthy humor and see some actors you've seen lately on television....more info

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE?This movie is a tour-de-force for Mr. Hopkins...this movie is a satire of the highest order,and people who get hung up on the enemas are missing the point!To really appreciate what is going on in the movie,the viewer MUST have historical knowledge of the Kelloggs,the Posts,Battle Creek,and the overall context of the history of processed food,health,and nutrition in the US in the last century!Bridget,Matthew,et al are outstanding in this very entertaining film....Just as Gene Hackman counts "The Conversation" as his favorite[an excellent film nobody saw!],I am sure someday that Anthony and the crew will have very fond memories of a great movie that the"mass audiences" just could not appreciate.......more info

Uniqe movie. Funny though.I liked this movie. The cast was great, the story was fantastic and there were many different levels of humor to appeal to most people. Big fans of John Cusack and Sir. Anthony Hopkins. The movie can be akward and uncomfortable at points; gratuitous man ass, you see. Very unpleasant. But other than that I really enjoyed it. If you like period films such as this one (takes place in the Belle Epoque, late 19th century America)and you like to laugh, this is a good one....more info

A must see!It's my 1st Alan Parker's movie.After I saw it, I decided to know all the other this great director's works.The story is weired & funny, I just love it!...more info

Masterwork of Situational Absurdity, Grossly UnderratedAmazon's reviews are usually reliable enough to live by, even when it means bucking a misguided critical trend, but they really dropped the ball on this one.

The otherwise not-so-remarkable Alan Parker will almost certainly never top this rollicking masterpiece of situational absurdity. It is a particular variety of humor, to be sure, but to dismiss it as "scatological" is just blunder.

While consistently outrageous throughout, and potentially difficult to follow at times, owing to the dizzying number of parallel story lines and fast pace, the movie is an elaborate, blatant mockery of health/wellness zealotry, and especially vegetarianism.

Cusack is particularly excellent, and gives his funniest performance ever (yes, better than Better Off Dead), as do Carvey and Hopkins. There are so many precious scenes that no one who sees the movie will ever be able to forget, least of all Cusack's side-splitting anti-vegetarian tirade towards the movie's conclusion, the all-too-glib Englishman with a preference for electrified bathwater, or the Kellogg family's fiery, yogurt-covered reconciliation.

How's your health?Once again Anthony Hopkins takes his character over the top and into a hilarious trip into Battle Creek Michigan as the infamous Dr. John Kellog. Who cares if the story doesn't stick to the novel's, its simply non-stop comical sequences, peppering the eyes as one sits back and either shrieks in delight or is both appalled and embarrassed by the goings on. You'll never look at a doctor or nurse the same way again....more info

MNovie is great, but BEWARE OF ASPECT RATIO!I gave a 5 star rating because the movie is that good, but this is the FULL SCREEN version of the film, not the widescreen version. Amazon really need to start labelling their movies a bit clearer. I'm no big movie buff, but I am quite into movies and when I saw the "1:33:1" aspect ratio, I assumed it was a widescreen version of the movie since I've always know the aspect ratio for full screen to be 4:3. It's not hard to put "The Road To Wellville (Full Screen Edition)" in the header of their movies. I feel pretty ripped off as this movie was 18 bucks, pretty expensive for a standard full screen DVD. What's odd is the movie doesn't seem to be released in the U.S. on DVD in widescreen. Really odd since they too the time to remaster the video.

Also, a note to movie companies... full screen versions of movies are outdated, have been for a while, and will be more and more outdated as time goes on. There's no reason at all to release a DVD ONLY in full screen format....more info

Awful~ I'd Give it less if I couldI saw this at a video rental store and said, "Wow, look at all these great people in it this must be good." I was wrong. The people in this movie are amazing, and the story isn't bad, but its not a comedy. It's not a drama either. It really is just nothing. The cast strives to do as much with the film as possible, but its not worth it. And how can you put Dana Carvey in a role that isn't even funny?...more info

The Road to "Ills-ville"... because that's what this movie made me. It deserves negative stars. Did any of the principles actually read the script before they signed on to do this project? You know you're in for a laugh riot when one of the first scenes is Anthony Hopkins expounding on the "bowels", which actually could be funny except that it most certainly wasn't. Nor was seeing Dana Carvey throw feces on people, or Bridget Fonda getting a "womb manipulation", or the many,many sufferings of Matthew Broderick that he endured for not a day, not a week, but unbelieveably for months, and ... oh well, I guess you get the idea by now. I'm a big fan of all the individual players in this movie, so it's dissapointing to see them in such a mess....more info

The cast, script, editing, direction, and musical score all epitomize Alan Parker's unparalleled creative genious. Every element of this movie deserves close attention, which is what makes it worth watching over and over...

I show this movie to friends who have no idea what they are in store for (WHY didn't this movie get more acclaim???). It always gets fantastic reviews, and that is what you will experience, too.

sleeper extraordinareCriminal this film was not a successful as it should have been. Rich environments, charming characters and an inspired score, It's fun just to look at. The wicked humor is only topped by the fact that it's all true! History has rarely been so much fun!...more info

For Health Nuts (with a sense of humor)OnlyIf you are a person like me, who grew up in a health conscious family that has the courage to laugh at themselves, this movie is great. It always gets OK reviews because either they don't understand what it is like to convict your life to eating healthy, or they are health nuts that don't have the guts to laugh at themselves.

This movie start off with one of the funniest openings in movie history (I will not tell you anything about it. It must be seen). It has an all-star cast, which is lead by a fantastic performance by Anthony Hopkins. It is one of those performances that didn't get the deserved recognition because he was so good at it that he convinces the audience that he actually talks and acts that way. I know it sound funny, but through the movie you'll start laughing because you'll realize that Hopkins is talking like a beaver/gym teacher, but he makes it work throughout the movie.

The lines and scenes that come out of this movie about eating right and being healthy are legendary. My favorite being: "Health! The open sesame to the suckers purse." Don't think I gave away the funniest line either, there are many more.

It must also be noted that stuff like where this movie was shot is breath taking. The costumes, the backgrounds, the buildings, and the scenery are superb.

This movie is well worth seeing especially if you: Eat healthy, work in a health food store, know people that are health crazy, or if you want to laugh at the people who make health a major part of their life....more info

WORTH SEEING ONCE, THAT'S ABOUT IT!!!I saw THE ROAD TO WELLLVILLE although I thought ANTHONY HOPKINS was great as DR KELLOGG I just found the the rest of the cast like MATTHEW BRODERICK and BRIDGET FONDA to be uninteresting and dull although I do admit DANA CARVEY has his moments that make you laugh. It's not enough to compensate for the above. Also the story is a little weak too and sometimes confusing in what way it is I won't say just watch and find out. I'd like to recommmend THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE but I find I can not....more info

The Flakes aren't in your bowl, they're the Doctors telling you to eatHilarious neglected comedy by a star ensemble cast. But perhaps it isn't as funny if you do not know the real story behind the Battle Creek Sanatorium craze and the various circuses of peripheral quacks it attracted. This was a dim era for science and a bizarre pause in America's ongoing love of the latest "health craze." Who knows, perhaps the liquid crystal enemas of today will end up being the Kellogg's Corn Flakes of tomorrow....more info

Clever...clever...and clever! Battle Creek,corn flakes,enemas and fun!If you have seen the A&E BIOGRAPHY THE KELLOGG BROTHERS,CORN FLAKES KINGS, then you will all the more appreciate the hilarity of THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, a comedic but also very sobering look at the wealthy person's search for illness cures and the seemingly bizarre and revolutionary medical practices of Dr.John Kellogg ( a bucktoothed Anthony Hopkins in a rare comedic role!) of Battle Creek, Michigan.The late nineteenth century was positively a time of "anything goes" fads that swept this country. The wealthy flocked to every new word on the wind. People wanted answers about life after death and medical cures for their ills (enter husband and wife played by Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda). Thus we come to the enigmatic John Kellogg whose Battle Creek Sanitarium became the Mecca for the upper classes to spend their money and brag that they were in on the latest craze; laughing cures, enemas,no meat, electrical shock, fresh air rest cures and all done in grand style and at exorbitant prices!

Kellogg founded the corn flake as the miracle food of his Sanitarium. This started a mad rush for other entrepreneurs to cash in on this new fad. Battle Creek became a nuthouse of self seekers seeking honest patrons waiting to be victimized.(Here enters a scheming John Cusack with excellent comic timing!)

THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE examines this odd piece of American history with great comic relief and accuracy. If the movie seems silly that is because the whole Battle Creek craze WAS SILLY! It was full of eccentric and self absorbed people willing to try anything. This is nothing new as history is full of "revolutionary thinkers" who got some things right and got many things wrong! The unfortunate thing is that well meaning people got caught in the crossfire through blind trust.

This is a fascinating and very interesting,accurate and downright funny film. Who else but soundtrack composer great Rachel Portman could add her notes of genius to such a film of a quirky subject matter.